My Life So Far

Tell me to do, I will

A natural tendency I have is talking fast. It has been a habit of mine for some time because whenever I am engaged in a conversation, I am cut off; not being able to finish. But when it comes to speaking professionally (or needing to speak intelligently), I naturally speak better. All of my elementary school teachers took notice to my professional speech. Because of that skill I developed, it made the transition to High Tech Middle that much easier. In 7th grade, my teachers noticed that unique quality I possessed and wanted to further demonstrate it to help represent the school.
One day I was sitting in one of my classes, eyes glued to the monitor. As I was working, I heard the door to the room open. Some student walked in the class, probably came from the bathroom without washing their hands. Then I heard the student walking. It became more and more difficult to focus on my work as the sound of the footsteps grew louder; closer to me. Clack clack clack clack. Worry grew in the back of my head. They didn’t hear me, did they? No, it was in my mind. Or did I say it out loud? The more I thought about it, the stronger the fear grew.
The footsteps stopped, right behind me. The fear that lingered in my head was turning like a gauge attached to my heart increasing the rate of its beating. I resisted the urge to shake and act like no one was behind me. Unfortunately, that feeling did not last long. “Hey Nathan,” I heard someone say. I recognized the voice; it was my teacher’s. Suffering guilt about having the thought of the so called ‘student’ coming into class without washing his or her hands made me freeze, not being able to speak properly. So instead of saying ‘yes’, gibberish poured out of my mouth. To my surprise, she took the gibberish as a way of acknowledging her presence and knelt beside me with a letter in her hand. At that point, my fears and worries suddenly vanished and curiosity arose. She explained that she wanted me to be a student ambassador, a representative of the school that would attend special meetings involving the school. Very excited to be this student ambassador, I accepted the letter, gripping it as if it were my life. She informed me about a date which the first meeting would be and where. Taking a mental note, I nodded my head and in reply she thanked me for my help. I re-read the letter over and over again. Reading it, my breath became deeper, regaining the oxygen that I did not allow myself to collect earlier. A smile grew on my face, I felt powerful. No one else got a letter, I must be the only cool person here I thought to myself in my little 7th grade head. That was the first day when it clicked in my head that teachers saw something in me I hadn’t seen or discovered back then.
When I got home that day, I eagerly raved to my mother about the exciting news. Just as joyful, she signed the letter that would officially let me become a student ambassador. I’ve been given a duty only a select few could participate in and I wasn’t going to ruin that opportunity. I’d do whatever it took to keep that position. Tell me to do; I will. Whatever it takes I replayed in my head multiple times. The more meetings I attended, the more information I gathered about my school and the more worthy I proved to be a student ambassador. My 7th grade teacher changed how I viewed myself and because of that I am still continuing student ambassador activities and joined a club at High Tech High called the Student Senate to further exercise my professionalism. I am grateful that I did what I was asked of me to do. Since then, I’ve had the strength to accept challenges that teachers told me to undertake. Many I felt like quitting, but I never gave up. Tell me to do; I will became my motto and will continue to be throughout my life.